The Missouri Reader Vol. 36, Issue 1 | Page 62

READING RECOVERY PRACTICES IN SPECIAL
EDUCATION CLASSROOMS
Diane Pierce
pecial education teachers are faced with
many difficult tasks throughout the day. In
addition, they are expected to provide
individualized instruction for each special
education student. This instruction should be on
the individual child‘s level. Not only must the
teacher find the appropriate instruction for each
student, but the teacher must also provide
instruction for multiple students.
One successful program for reading
instruction is Reading Recovery. Reading
Recovery can be used to help improve reading
development through an intense intervention.
Reading Recovery also allows the teacher to
assess the level of student achievement (Dunn,
2007). The components of Reading Recovery
could be adapted for the special education
classroom and allow the teacher to individualize
the lesson.

An Overview of Reading Recovery
Reading Recovery was introduced in New
Zealand in the 1970s by Marie Clay. It has been
adopted by school systems in the United States,
Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. During the
20 years it has been implemented in the United
States, Reading Recovery has had more than 1.4
million students involved in the program
(Reynolds & Wheldall, 2007).
Reading Recovery Council of North America
(RRCNA) (2010a) identifies the goal of Reading
Recovery is to significantly lower the number of
first-grade students experiencing extreme
difficulty learning to read and write. Another
goal of RRCNA is to reduce the cost of educating
these struggling learners to the education system
(RRCNA, 2010a).

Reading Recovery offers intervention through
tutoring with individual instruction by a trained
Reading Recovery teacher. The tutoring sessions
are 30 minutes daily for 12-20 weeks (RRCNA,
2010b; What Works Clearinghouse, 2008). The
students continue with the lessons until they
meet grade-level expectations and show they can
transfer the new skills to the classroom. Their
lessons are then terminated and the next
qualifying students begin the one-on-one tutoring
sessions (RRCNA, 2010b).
The lessons are individually planned and taught
by trained Reading Recovery teachers. The
teachers are skilled in changing the lessons as
needed during the course of the session. They
choose from their repertoire of procedures to
find the best possible instruction for the child
(RRCNA, 2010b). Hicks and Villaume (2001)
chose
Diane Pierce currently teaches K5th Cross-Categorical Special
Education at Fordland Elementary
School in Fordland, Missouri. She
has been teaching special
education for 12 years. Prior to
special education, Diane taught
Title I Reading for three years.
She has her B.S. in Elementary
Education from Tahlequah,
Oklahoma, and her M.S. in
Reading from Missouri State
University. Diane has a Special
Reading certification and CrossCategorical Special Education
certification.

two
Reading Recovery students and studied them
© The Missouri Reader, 36 (1) p.62